Now that I commute to the City (aka San Francisco) everyday on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit, for those of you not in No. Calif. that’s our version of the Subway system in New York, ours is waay better btw) I make sure that I have a book to read during the ride.
This week’s BART book was “On The Edge” by Pamela Britton. I’ve written about Pamela before, even did a mini email interview with her last year, talking about how much I enjoyed her first book in the new Harlequin/NASCAR partnership called “In The Groove.”
These books are romance novels set in the world of NASCAR racing. Being a woman, a single woman at that, reading these books is so much fun for me. There are never any bodice-ripping sex passages but there are enough details to make me grin a little while pouring over the books on BART.
You could say the books are a “guilty pleasure” but there’s nothing to really feel guilty about. Pamela writes with clarity and attention to detail. She’s done her homework on the mechanics of racing so you’re also learning about the sport as well as whatever romantic entanglements the characters find themselves in.
So for whatever its worth — and that’s a lot — I give “On The Edge” two thumbs up!
Welcome to The Fast and the Fabulous! This is a blog based on one woman's thoughts, opinions and experiences involving NASCAR and IndyCar.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my feed with your favorite feed reader or have the latest posts sent directly to your email address.
Thanks for visiting!
My mom loves mystery. She loves Perry Mason (she freaked when she found out the series is out now on DVD). She read Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys when she was a kid, and now she’s an avid reader of whodunits by female authors.
One such author is Janet Evanovich. Apparently Evanovich has written a couple books that feature a character that falls in love with a NASCAR driver. The first is Metro Girl, followed by the just released, Motor Mouth. My mom told me about Metro Girl when it came out but of course I forgot, which if you ask her is a normal occurrence.
At any rate, I’m intrigued and I may have to borrow her copies. Check out the first sentence from Metro Girl: “Just because I know how to change a guy’s oil doesn’t mean I want to spend the rest of my life on my back, staring up his undercarriage.”
Nice!
Also out now is Pamela Britton’s latest NASCAR/Harlequin romance novel, On the Edge. In this story a NASCAR widow inherits her late husband’s racing team and falls for the unknown/unproven NASCAR driver she’s just hired.
More from my ongoing e-interview with romance novelist Pamela Britton:
ME: NASCAR is definitely a fan friendly, no doubt about it. Which sort of leads me to my next question, in “In the Groove” you make mention of “helmet lickers,” a nickname for NASCAR groupies. Is this really the case? I don�t know if there�s really a question here but I�m dying to know what “helmet lickers” are like and how they gain access to the drivers, and how the drivers regard them. Do you have any first-hand stories to share about things that you�ve seen in the garage?
PAMELA: “Helmet lickers” — a phrase ( rumor has it) coined by the guys on Dale Jr.’s team. They were tired of the term “pit lizard” and so they came up with a new moniker.
Yes, there are “pit lizards” around. I’ve heard stories of gals that have followed the team haulers to parking lots and, um, made themselves friendly with the big rig driver (not the driver/driver). I’ve seen these women work the garage with my own eyes, traveling from hauler to hauler, hoping to catch someone’s eye — not just a driver, but crew members as well.
Yes, I have an interesting story about this. When we were at a race awhile back, there was a woman sitting on one of the director’s chairs near the back of the #16 hauler. That’s where I hang out and so when I saw her, I just assumed she was with someone — you know — one of the crew members or sponsors or something. But then she trucked on over to someone else’s hauler — another “single” driver. Then, about a half-hour later, she moved to another hauler. I was totally baffled. Normally, most people hang with one team. I wondered if she was a reporter. Or maybe with Goodyear or something. When she trotted back in our direction, I finally asked someone who the heck she was. Nobody knew. Everyone on the team had assumed she was with someone else, LOL. We were all floored because nobody had said anything to her the whole day, and there she was hanging out and being friendly like she was part of the gang. Un. Real. Needless to say, something was said to her then and I never saw her again that weekend.
I hear this is the MO for this type of woman, but I’ve also heard that if a “helmet licker” is spotted and/or ID’d, they’re banished from the garage. This type of behavior is truly frowned upon, especially by certain team owners.
Here’s more from my email interview with book author Pamela Britton:
ME: Why do you think it took so long for a publisher to hook on to the idea of a romance set within the racing world? NASCAR is, after all, the fastest growing spectator sport in the country.
PAMELA: When I was pitching the idea to New York, I remember hearing, “NASCAR? What’s NASCAR?” from my many editors. It’s only been since the turn of the century that NASCAR suddenly became a household name. I remember back in the early 90s I’d come back from a NASCAR race and people would go, “What were you doing? A what-kind-of race?” So I think the answer to your question is simply that the tide turned. Suddenly, NASCAR was everywhere. In the streets of downtown NY. Drivers appearing on night-time television. Talk show hosts chatting the sport up. NY sat up and took notice…finally.
ME: Do you think that maybe people were underestimating racings female fans?
PAMELA: Well, I certainly don’t think NASCAR’s ever underestimated it’s female race fans. They were so excited when I originally approached them about my books. They’d been LOOKING for something to do for their female fans. I do believe, however, that men have a tendency to underestimate the female race fan. Whenever you read a snide comment about my books, it usually comes from a man. I have to shake my head because they just don’t get it. Women love the sport as much as them, and women like to read romance novels — ‘nough said. 
Recently I read a book, “In the Groove” by Pamela Britton, (that’s her on the left) a romance novel set within the racing world. It’s the first in the new NASCAR/Harlequin series and I loved it! It’s also the first romance novel that I’ve ever read and the only reason I picked it up in the first place was because it had to do with NASCAR.
When I tell people at work about the book they look at me like I’m crazy, but that’s really nothing new. If you’re a true blue fan of anything you’re going to want to get your hands on anything relating to your favorite subject.
I’m a sucker for romance and I loved the plot of the book, which is about an average-looking woman who, knowing nothing about racing, falls for a charming and gorgeous big-name driver. Of course it’s no easy task for the two of them to get together, which is great because I found myself devouring each chapter wanting to know what would happen next, will they or won’t they, etc. 
So I thought it would be fun to conduct an email interview with Pamela Britton to talk about the book and NASCAR in general. Periodically I’ll be posting our exchanges, so keep checking back for more.
ME: �In the Groove� is your second racing-related romance novel but the first in the new Harlequin/NASCAR series. Why did you want to write about romance in the �fast lane�? Was there any one thing that inspired you?
PAMELA: In the mid-nineties I spent a lot of time inside the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup garages (then it was Winston Cup). My husband at the time manufactured parts for the teams. So when I started writing right about the same time, it seemed a natural choice. The popularity of the sport was obvious and so I figured people might want to read about the sport as well as watch it on T.V.. Little did I know it would take me nearly six years to sell the story.
Everyone on the circuit has inspired me. They’re all so nice and “real”. All I have to do is look around me when I’m in the garage and I’ll see people like the Petty’s who started VICTORY JUNCTION GANG in honor of the deceased son. They’re helping critically ill children. How can you not be touched by that?
